414 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



that are more than 2| inches in diameter. Roots less than \ inch in 

 diameter should be discarded. Root cuttings 10 inches long have 

 been very successful, but it is probable that a length of 8 inches would 

 prove sufficient, and, if so, this would allow the propagation of a larger 

 number of cuttings from a given amount of roots than if longer cuttings 

 were made. 



" Saw off the roots into the proper lengths and smooth the cuts 

 with a sharp knife. Then make a trench and place the cuttings diag- 

 onally in the sand, leaving about 1| to 1\ inches of the thickest end 

 of each cutting projecting above the surface, pack the sand well, 

 water, and subsequently treat like hardwood cuttings. When the 

 cuttings are well rooted and have made a growth of eight to ten inches, 

 transplant to the nursery. Great care should be exercised in not 

 bruising, drying, or otherwise injuring the material from the digging 

 of the roots to the insertion of the cuttings in the sand. 



" The work should be done during the rainy season." 



Seeds of the seeded breadfruit do not retain their vitality 

 more than a few weeks, and should be planted promptly after 

 they are removed from the fruit. 



The varieties of the seedless breadfruit are numerous but 

 imperfectly known. As many as twenty-five are said to occur 

 in the Pacific islands, although MacCaughey states that only 

 three are known in Hawaii. It is a curious circumstance that 

 a tree as important as the breadfruit should have received 

 so little scientific study; but exceedingly little is known re- 

 garding the cultural methods best suited to it and the relative 

 merits of the different varieties propagated vegetatively. Con- 

 cerning such matters as its place in Polynesian folklore, its 

 history, and the uses of the fruit, however, there is an abun- 

 dance of information in the accounts of early voyages as well 

 as in the writings of modern authors. 



THE JACKFRUIT (Plate XXIII) 

 (Artocarpus integrifolia, Forst.) 



"There is again another wonderful tree/' wrote the pioneer 

 traveler John de Marignolli in 1350, "called Chake-Baruke, 



